Sure has been awhile!

Wow! I sure haven't written on here in awhile! So much has changed since January/February of 2010! Let's see if i can quickly go through some of it month by month!

February 2010

Went on a cruise along Okinawa. The food wasn't as great as we expected, but it was nice having a fun date night.

We got to explore the castle ruins of ancient royalty! It was beautiful and we found an abandoned building that we later discovered we aren't allowed near!

March 2010

Celebrated my very first White day! In Japan, valentine's day (feb 14) is when the women get men presents. They get their husbands one kind of chocolate and their friends and coworkers other kinds of chocolate called "obligation chocolate." They spend HUNDREDS of dollars on chocolate. Then, the following month (March 14) the women get presents from the men. This was my white day gift from the Mr. He didn't realize it, but the chocolate he gave me was actually obligation chocolate for a friend or coworker. Whoops!
Went out with some friends to poco a Poco, an amazing restaurant right outside our house. It was ladies night, so it only cost us 2,000 yen a person for all you can eat/drink all night!

April 2010

Easter, 2010. Dima was in Yuma, AZ for training at this point, but my friend Robin invited me over for some yummy treats and to watch the kids at the egg hunt. It was a good time with some great friends. Jenn made this yummy easter cake. It was part carrot cake, and part strawberry I believe. Yummy!!
Went out in Naha with Heather, a good friend. Had a good time!
Went to the Dragon boat races with Heather. What a cool event! These people train all year for this event. Very cool! And i just love Japanese festival foods! So much healthier and yummier then the crap in the states! I got some noodles and veggies with a stir fry sauce that was super yummy. Heather got some Okinawian Soba for her and her daughter to share. I then discovered this stand and couldn't figure out what the heck it was! Turns out they were little balls of jello shots that they mix with lemon soda and you drink. It wasn't too strong, but worth trying! Reminded me of taking jello shots in college with Emilie!

May 2010

Went to the Ana hotel for Jenn's baby shower! it was a beautiful hotel and we had a wonderful lunch! Jenn was so surprised she cried! It was a great baby shower and we are glad to be able to go! I made her this baby blanket for her little Vera!


Finally had our second wedding! It was only a year and a half later but better late then never i suppose! We did a Japanese Cherry Blossom theme since we live in Japan and it served to be a pretty wedding.

Just a day or so before the wedding, we found out that I was pregnant! What wonderful timing! It was quite the surprise but truly the best surprise we have ever had. I wish I could say that I was able to surprise Dima about the news with a great story, but unfortunately I had some trouble with the test and needed Dima to get a digital one for me. He was with me and we were able to peek at the positive test together. What a surprise we got after those 3 long minutes were over!

June 2010

While we had family in town, we decided to FINALLY get down to try Dr. Fish. Dr fish is a big tank of fish that eat the dead skin off your feet. Of course there is nothing like it in the States because Americans freak out about it being unsanitary but we were happy to finally get to try this with Sasha! It doesn't hurt, just tickles a little bit. After the 10 minute "spa therapy" our feet felt so wonderful!
We got to get to one of our favorite "fast food" places in Okinawa while we had company. This is Dima, Ric, and my dad enjoying some yummy Coco Curry. At this restaurant, you get to pick your meat, then choose how much rice you want, and then choose a level of hotness you want for your curry. The regular curry is quite spicy enough, so I usually just order that. Dima ordered a level 3 (out of 10!) and said it was so hot that it really took away from the taste of the food. Afterwards we took everyone to San-a, a local japanese store. I can't really describe what these stores are like. They have everything from grocery foods, to clothing, to furniture, to electronics. We went to pick up some yummy fish to make sushi the following night. You can see how unique the Japanese markets are. We bought some Salmon, tuna, yellow tail, shrimp, crab, and squid. But i did see this octopus which looked just yummy. Unfortunately, since I am now carrying a little one, all I can eat is the crab and shrimp. Japan is not the place for a pregnant sushi lover to live!

We also finally made it to the famous Okinawian aquarium. I love aquariums and thought that i had seen the best of the best when I saw the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I was very wrong! Wow this was by far the best aquarium I have ever seen. The whale shark room was by far the most amazing thing i've ever seen! It was a HUGE tank with all kinds of creatures in it. Huge sting rays, and some beautiful whale sharks. I can't wait to bring our little one with us to see the big water creatures!

We made our way to Kokasai Street in Naha while my family was still here. Kokasai street is a very unique place and we got to try some yummy Okinawian purple potato cookies and went out to dinner to a very Japanese restaurant. Again, since i'm pregnant and don't eat red meat, i had some trouble finding something to eat. But I can live off rice I suppose.

In June, we got to have our first ultrasound..."under the table" We are very grateful to our neighbor, Steve who is an OB doc and let us come in to see our little one. There wasn't much to see at this point, I was only 7 weeks along at the time. We did get to see that little heart beating and i think it made my heart flutter just a little.

July 2010

Finally got around to doing some gardening in our front yard. Our neighbor told us about "lasagna gardening," a method of gardening where you place wet cardboard boxes down, followed by compost material, followed by lots of dirt. You then let it "cook" for awhile and can plant into the ground. We spend a beautiful saturday outside our house making our lasagna. It was very simple, but took a lot of dirt to cover. In the end, this is what we came up with. The trees were there before we moved in and couldn't be removed. So we decided to keep them in our garden. We will wait now to plant something in the front.

We went to a Japanese festival in American Village this month too. It was to celebrate 10 years of American Village. We had a good time with some of the neighbors and had some yummy Japanese festival food and watched Japanese fireworks. Japanese fireworks are VERY different then we are used to. They are so much better! They have fireworks that expode into hearts and smiley faces! And the Japanese LOVE fireworks and will use anything as an excuse to shoot some off! We often see a show from our front porch on a random night. It is really cool.


We had another ultrasound this month. This time was much more enjoyable then the last. We were able to make out the head, arms, and legs of our little one. What an amazing sight! Our little one was moving around a lot in there. His/her arms were moving towards the head a lot. I'm guessing he/she was sucking their thumb. It was so cool to see and made us very excited for the next ultrasound. Here is another belly photo... i am 11 weeks in this photo and the baby is the size of a lime. This was taken in our backyard.